Category: Clean Eating Recipes

So I’ve tried spaghetti squash in the past, and in my opinion spaghetti squash is rather bland.But, I’ve heard wonderful things about zucchini noodles as an alternative to traditional pasta. I will admit I that recently purchased a Veggie Spiral Peeler and have been dying to try it out. This recipe was the perfect excuse to do so….

This recipe requires a bit of multi-tasking because in addition to making the zucchini noodles, we’re cooking the meatballs and sauce separately before combining them together. So put on your favorite music (or podcast), make sure its nap time for the kids, and get into kitchen ninja mode!

I just recently put this recipe together using variations of some of my favorites, and I just absolutely loved the way it turned out.

Let’s do a quick recipe overview so you know what you’re getting into here :

Zucchnini Noodles – 5 Minutes

I used a Paderno Spiral Veggie Slicer ( affiliate link) to make the zucchini noodles. A bit of an investment at $36, but I anticipate I will get a lot of use out of it and it will save me some time trying to do this manually( no, thank you!). When you’re done, set the zucchini noodles aside, no further cooking required.

Zucchini Noodles

Meatballs – 35 Minutes or Less

We combine grass-fed beef, garlic, ground almonds or almond flour, coriander, mint, cumin and cinnamon and a few other ingredients to give these meatballs a bit of a Mediterranean flare.The combination of cinnamon, cumin and mint makes for quite the flavor.

Once all ingredients are combined we shape them into about 20 2-inch size balls.

We cook the meatballs in a large frying pan with olive oil and a bit of water to keep the moisture in.

Marinara Tomato Sauce – 15 Minutes or Less

This tomato sauce is the easiest, best-tasting spaghetti sauce I’ve ever had. The first time I tried this recipe I couldn’t believe how delicious this sauce was it was and how simple it is to make! Three ingredients – yep three ingredients. Olive oil, fresh garlic and whole-peeled diced tomatoes. Well 5 ingredients – if you include the salt and pepper :-).

People, after you’ve had this you will never want to go back to buying the canned pasta sauce – ever. Besides, lord knows what other ingredients are hiding in commercially made pasta sauce( I shudder to think!)

We heat the olive oil, crush the garlic cloves with a large kitchen knife and saute the garlic cloves until they are a nice golden brown. Then we add the whole peeled tomatoes and cook that for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. We add the rest of the olive oil, turn the heat up and use a wooden spoon to smash the tomatoes so the juices flow. Cook until the oil turns red and -boom! Done.

After everything is cooked, I combined the meatballs and marinara sauce together and served over my zucchini noodles.

Mmmmm…..now on to the recipe:

[yumprint-recipe id=’7′]And there you have it! A bit of a longer recipe post but you’ll feel so accomplished and definitely be a clean eating kitchen ninja when you’re done. I would love to hear your thoughts and questions in the comments below.

When I was transitioning to the clean eating lifestyle in 2012, one of my biggest challenges was finding healthy snacks in between meals. I first started eating Luna bars but those bars contain sugars and after a while I couldn’t eat them without getting sick.

And then a friend told me about Larabars. Oh my goodness I do love Larabars …

They are a great, healthy and delicious snack in between meals or even as an add on to your lunch or breakfast.

For me, they have been a lifesaver when I’m out and about running errands and needed something to munch on.

Most Larabars contain less that 5 ingredients, and they are all ingredients I can pronounce! My favorite Larabar – Peanut Butter Cookie – only has peanuts, sea salt and dates.

I have always wanted to make my own Larabars. Even though my local Fred Meyer has them for $1 each( Amazon and VitaCost sell for a $1.25 each), it was starting to get expensive because…well…I would eat one everyday( they’re just so gooood) and it’s such a great grab and go snack. Especially when you have two little fireballs of energy( I mean boys) that you have to chase after.

So I finally buckled down this week. Did some research and experimenting…and oh my goodness did I come up with a great Homemade Larabar recipe that will probably save me( and hopefully you) some money at the grocery store!

Not only does this recipe take less than 10 minutes to make, but it only has 3 ingredients – peanuts, cranberries and dates. That’s it! Nothing more, nothing less.

You’ll want to get raw and unsalted peanuts, dried and unsweetened cranberries and Medjool dates are just the best dates ever. The peanuts and cranberries you can get from the bulk food section at your local grocery store and the Medjool dates I picked up from Costco. A good food processor is also helpful too!

Originally when I made this the first time, I started with only peanuts and cranberries and some sea salt. The sea salt is totally optional.

After combining just the peanuts and cranberries, the mixture wasn’t “gooey” enough to shape into bars, so I deseeded and added the Medjool dates.

Much better!

Shape them into rectangular bars

And you’re done! This mix should make about 6-7 rectangular bars, or if you wanted you could shape them into balls ( my youngest son liked them a lot!). Store them in the fridge for up to two weeks – although I would be very surprised indeed if they lasted that long.

[yumprint-recipe id=’5′]Yum yum…I shared some with my mother-in-law and she loved them so much she asked me to buy the ingredients to make a batch amount for her snack stash!

What are some of your favorite variations of Larabar recipes? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Note: There are affiliate disclosures in this post. At no cost to you, I receive a small commission for any purchases you make from clicking on these links. Helps me to keep things running around here, and I only recommend products that I personally love and use. Click here for my full disclosure policy.

I might have to start cheating on my Larabars with these crackers as my new go-to snacks – ok maybe not cheat but add them to my snack arsenal.

Once again, I have to give credit to my friend Vanessa for introducing these absolutely A-mazing delectables into my life. Is it possible that a gluten-free,grain-free,dairy-free and sugar-free snack can be so delicious AND healthy at the same time?

I tried 3 different variations of this recipe, and so I’m posting the one that, in my opinion, turned out and tasted the best. I’ll share the other two variations in the recipe notes so you can try it for yourself.

Quick Overview:

Combine all ingredients in your food processor or mixer until formed into a dough, then form dough into a ball.

Place dough between either two pieces of parchment paper or use a baking mat and parchment paper. I love and recommend the Silpat silicone baking mat. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness.

Once dough is rolled out completely, use a pizza cutter to cut dough into rectangles, squares or any other shape your heart desires :). Transfer baking mat or parchment paper to a baking tray or cookie sheet and bake away for 15 minutes! Keeping scrolling to get the full recipe. Yummm…

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Extra Tips:

Almond flour can be purchased at your local grocery store in the nutrition section, online or sometimes in the bulk food section

If you are dying to make this recipe right away and don’t have fresh rosemary, you can always substitute for 1 tsp dried rosemary – but the fresh rosemary is what really gives these crackers their delightful taste.

Warning, these can be addictive( as I reach for my 5th cracker while enjoying a cup of green tea.) You may need to make a double(or triple) batch of these because sharing doesn’t come so easy…I warned you 🙂

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, and if you tried any of the variations I suggested.

Note: There are affiliate disclosures in this post. At no cost to you, I receive a small commission for any purchases you make from clicking on these links. Helps me to keep things running around here, and I only recommend products that I personally love and use. Click here for my full disclosure policy.

I have to thank my friend Vanessa for sharing this wonderful recipe with me. Until this entered my world, my breakfast had been limited to oatmeal, my spinach feta cheese omelette and a few other pancake recipes.

Zucchini breakfast waffles are clean eating, delicious and healthy. They are also a grain-free, sugar-free and gluten-free alternative to traditional waffles. I’m sure if you didn’t have a waffle maker that you could use this recipe to make zucchini pancakes and it would out turn out just as good.

We start by combining grated zucchini with eggs, coconut milk, coconut oil. Then we add coconut and almond flour, along with “pumpkin pie” spices( cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger) for a nice, thick consistency.

Scoop mixture onto the waffle iron, bake until done…Voila!

Tip: Make this ahead of time the day before and refrigerate or freeze them. Pop them into the toaster and eat them as is or top with raw organic honey, coconut oil, maple syrup or your favorite sugar-free jam.

Whenever I happen to be near my neighbourhood New Seasons or Whole Foods, I always try to get a small container of their quinoa salads because they are so deeeelicious! I have tried and failed many a times to replicate these salads -until this weekend(yaay!)

I wasn’t really having any luck finding any good recipes that combined quinoa and cilantro well, so I started experimenting until I found a combination that turned out perfect. I bought this salad to the family Easter dinner last night and it was definitely a hit – so I figured I would continue to spread the love here on the blog :).

I came across Tabbouleh salads recipes and I love love love the combination of ingredients. Fresh, tasty and nutritious veggies and all-natural ingredients. Doesn’t bet any better than this people.

If you’re wondering, Tabbouleh is traditionally a Mediterranean salad made with bulgar, parsley and a combination of various veggies. I swapped out bulgar and parsley for quinoa and cilantro to make some kitchen magic happen. The dressing is a fantastic mixture of lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and low-sodium soy sauce.

Hey Guess What? This recipe is paleo,vegan,vegetarian and clean eating-friendly! How often does THAT happen?

Ok here we go:

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Tips & Notes:

Salad is served best cold or at room temperature

Prep this salad in the morning and then have it for lunch or as a side for dinner in the evening

You should absolutely try that divine salad dressing on your other salads!

The low-sodium soy sauce is the only thing that would contain gluten in this recipe. If want to make it gluten free, substitute the soy sauce for Tamari (link to Amazon). Also check your local health food store.

So what do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below,and please tell me if you tried it or have your own variation of this recipe.

This post contains affiliate links. At no cost to you I receive a small commission if you make a purchase – helps me to keep things running around here so I can continue to provide helpful content. I only endorse products that I love and use myself, and am happy to pass on information that is valuable to my readers.

Chef Fabio Viviani said it right when he called Mac N Cheese America’s “comfort food.” We all know that this delicious dish, which is a staple in many households is probably not the healthiest of options, but boy it sure tastes good! Now that I follow a clean eating lifestyle, many of the the traditional Mac N Cheese recipes, including my own, were off the table ( awww man!)

What’s a girl to do with all that white pasta and the rather excessive amounts of dairy?

ENTER:

Yep. I was absolutely determined to find a way to “clean up” this household staple because it is one of my favorite recipes to make. Whenever we host parties or holiday dinners at our house, you can bet you will find this dish among the options. I’ve made it so many times that I practically have it memorized.

After some tweaking here and there, I was able to whip up this “cleaner eating” version of macaroni and cheese recipe. I say “cleaner” because there is still some dairy in this recipe, primarily in the cheddar cheese. Should you be having this for dinner every night ? Probably not. You know the rule, everything in moderation here.

Use gluten-free cheese. I used Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese in this recipe

Obviously you can tell we really enjoy this dish…

So what do you think ? What other ways can you make clean eating Mac N Cheese ? Leave a comment below!

Note: There are affiliate disclosures in this post. At no cost to you, I receive a small commission for any purchases you may make from clicking on these links. Click here for my full disclosure policy.

I love smoothies. I have them for breakfast, as snack or with my dinner, depending on my mood. I’m always experimenting with different fruits, veggies and other ingredients to get the best flavor and the healthiest option possible.

I’ve recently gotten into green smoothies by adding kale, spinach, swiss chard and even avocados to some of my smoothies. Raw greens – especially kale – can have a sharp, bitter taste initially so I usually try and add a natural sweetner ( such as fruit) to offset that bitter taste.

I came up with a combo recently while we were snowed in that I just love! Four ingredients, dairy-free and an excellent source of protein via kale – no protein powder required! So without further ado, one Coconut Banana Kale Smoothie coming right up( is your mouth watering yet?)

You’ll need: kale, coconut vanilla milk, a banana and chia seeds.

[yumprint-recipe id=’1′]Extra Bonus – this is toddler-friendly! Even Domy loved it and kept asking for more :)!